Quidditch
by Life's Crash Test Dummy
Summary: "That kiss…all it meant was goodbye. To any and all possibility. That's it. The end." Kaylie wonders how Nicky Russo can be breaking her heart right now when it supposedly belongs to Austin Tucker. Kaylicky /Alphabet Challenge - Q/


**Title: **Quidditch

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Oh, the possibilities if I did.

**Original Rules of the Payson-Nicky-Forever's Challenge:**

1) We went through the alphabet writing stories based on a word that begins with each letter.

2) Although we both started with "A", afterwards we alternating each letter.

3) We always picked each other's word, except for the "A" stories.

4) All stories had to be 500+ words in length.

5) Five day time limit from when the other author posted her story. (I BROKE THIS ONE! Haha! :P)

6) My stories were always Kaylie/Nicky and hers were always Payson Nicky.

**Author's note**: I wanted to make it happy because I know some of my original _The Difference Between _days readers are feeling neglected with my interests shifting and I set out to appease you…but as history has shown, I suck at writing "happy". Still, read it and enjoy, but as always, be careful. I'm not kind to shippers' hearts.

* * *

><p><strong>Quidditch <strong>

It's against the rules to be out past curfew, but how is Kaylie supposed to pass up the opportunity to catch up with Nicky Russo in Rio?

The competition is long over. Confetti has rained down on the winners and losers, flashes of cameras capturing both grins and tears to later print for the world to see. The stadium is empty, cleaned out, except for two gymnasts sitting in the stands, looking down as if they were in the audience. History was made down there yet the ground is swept clean, apparatuses dissembled and put away, as if it didn't even happen.

Kaylie and Nicky have been talking for some time now. They talked on the walk over from the hotel and somehow they ended up here. They talk about what's just happened, Worlds, the results, the triumphs and mishaps. They talk about Sasha and Payson and even Emily. Slowly, what they share becomes more and more personal. Kaylie tells him about Austin and even Damon. Nicky laughs, doesn't look one bit surprised and something about that strikes the wrong chord with Kaylie. Is she that predictable?

"We probably shouldn't be in here," Kaylie says. She has her feet propped up against the back of the plastic seat in front of her, hands jammed into the pockets of the jacket she's wearing, black with a hot pink trim.

Nicky laughs, such an unusually confident, even cocky sound. "We've both won gold under this roof. What are they going to do? Take it away? Slaps on the wrists at the most."

"Nicky Russo, how spontaneously out-of-line of you," Kaylie teases. She tilts her head and looks in his direction. He seems different, but in a good way, more muscular, put together and confident in himself. Time away from Colorado has definitely been good to him. "I didn't expect that. A cowboy hat, maybe."

Nicky laughs again, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand. "A lot has changed."

"I guess you're right," she agrees. "Congrats on that win, by the way."

"Thanks," he says, sitting that much taller at the reminder. "But something tells me the papers are going to feature pictures of _you_ and your new _boyfriend_ making out rather than former second best, Nicky Russo, _finally_ getting gold. Scandal always trumps the outdated underdog story."

"Look on the bright side," she says. "At least one of us gets to escape the press this time."

"True," Nicky says, "but after what you did, going in front of everyone like that and telling them the truth about your 'injury,' it was brave. Good press. Congrats on that win, by the way."

Kaylie smiles, thinking about the flowers Nicky sent her once it got out that she wasn't training and the lie that it was because of an ACL injury. A dozen red tulips showed up at her house with a card urging her to get well soon. She wanted to call him and thank him, but she knew hearing his sincerity, her deception-driven guilt would have gotten the best of her and she'd tell him everything, which, according to her dad, would be the worst possible scenario.

"Thank you," Kaylie says, staring back out at the emptiness of the stadium and the brightness of the spotlight. "Look at us." She playfully swings her arm out and lightly hits Nicky in the abdomen. "We've come far from Kaylicky, huh?"

Nicky chuckles. "Who would have thought?"

"It would be nice to call you a Colorado gymnast, but I guess the Dallas snobs suited you better, huh?"

He groans. "They aren't snobs."

"_They_?" she asks. It makes her smile a little, that he doesn't consider himself one of them. The way she reads into it, he secretly wishes he still represented the Rock. "And, yes, Nicky, they are snobs. They were supposed to come to the Rock for a meet, but bailed."

"Maybe it's a good thing they did. The way I heard it, the remainder of the Rock Rebels were so bad they couldn't even beat Pinewood. _Pinewood_. Kaylie, come on. Not that I'm bragging or anything, but Dallas would have killed them. Watching you on teams, even I was worried until Kelly Parker pulled out that short of perfect bars routine."

Since she can't exactly argue, Kaylie decides to drive the conversation in a slightly different direction. "Speaking of Kelly Parker, we're friends now."

He nods. "So I've noticed."

"And she thinks you're cute," Kaylie blurts out. There are lines they promised never to cross with each other and that is definitely one of them, but she couldn't stop herself. The look on his pale face is worth it. "Nicky Russo, are you _blushing_?"

"I'm not blushing," he says quickly. "And why do I get the feeling she didn't _actually tell you_ that? Kaylie Cruz fabricating lies."

"Fine. She didn't, but I saw her sneaking looks at you at the afterparty," she sings. He shifts nervously, reverting back to the awkward android boy she almost saw herself falling for. When she realizes the way she's staring and enjoying it a little too much, Kaylie clears her throat. "I, um, I could hook that up for you. You know, if you want me to…?"

It's Kaylie's twisted way of asking if he's over her and whatever they almost had back in Boulder. Nicky clearly doesn't pick up on this, staring as if to ask if she's joking.

"Just because you're publicly dating Austin Tucker now doesn't mean everyone has to start pairing off. And for the record, if I walked up to Kelly Parker, what would I even say? _Hey, look at my gold medal. Where's your gold medal? Oh right, Payson's wearing it. That sucks._ Then she'd get defensive, bring up teams and the gold you girls won and the shameful bronze we took. Yeah, sounds like a lead in to asking her out."

"Wow, Nicky Russo being funny. This is new too," Kaylie says teasingly. It's fun to tease him and watch him get all flustered. It's cute. "So, um, what happened in Denver exactly?"

Nicky appears even more uncomfortable. Kaylie would retract the question just to get him to relax a bit more and bring the easiness back. From past experiences, Kaylie and Nicky don't do well with the heavy topics, especially when it's just the two of them talking. The tension that rises mixed with the way he looks at her when he's thinking words he could never tell her, it all has this dizzying effect. Definitely _not_ something that happens between people who are _just friends_.

"Ah, you know how it is. Just wasn't a good fit," Nicky explains. "I was running from the Rock when I chose Denver, which was dumb and only made things worse."

"And then you chose Dallas?" Kaylie asks. He still won't answer and that tells her there's something important right under the surface, waiting, _begging_ her to uncover it. "Okay, we'll play a game to make this easier. Two truths and a lie?" Kaylie doesn't want to just drop it, and especially after everything she's told him tonight alone. It's his time to fess up.

"Fine," he says, still uncertain. "You first."

"Don't mind if I do," Kaylie says, folding her legs and tilting her head back to stare at the medal rafters above. "Um, people say I have a pink obsession, but I just think I look good in it. I, um…I miss you around the Rock. And…I am one of six siblings. There's my oldest brother, Leo, but then my mom had quintuplets. We just keep the others in cages in the wine cellar because they have no athletic ability whatsoever."

"Naturally," Nicky says. He gives a crooked smile and asks, "You really miss me?"

"Obviously, that one was the lie," Kaylie says cheekily. "Okay. Your turn."

After a moment taken to collect his thoughts, Nicky takes a deep, shaky breath. "I, um, I really, _really_ hate Dallas and just basically take everything Marty taught me and practice that in the Dallas gym. Besides being a Worlds gold medalist, I've been keeper for the U.S. team at the Quidditch World Cup several times and IkissedKellyParkerandMartysaw." He takes another breath. "And that's why I crossed Denver off my list and left town."

Kaylie stares at him with her mouth open. She knows it isn't attractive, but that's the least of her concerns at the moment. She can't think of a single thing to say. She can barely form coherent thought.

The silence draws on.

One second. Two seconds. Three.

"Wait," Kaylie says, brows narrowed, disbelieving. Or maybe she just doesn't want to believe it. It's too farfetched, isn't it? "If I'm not mistaken, somewhere in there you just told me you _kissed Kelly Parker_."

"Don't forget the part about Marty walking in," Nicky reminds her. "That was…yeah."

No. Kelly Parker? Journal-stealing, no-friends-having Momager-oppressed Kelly Parker? And sweet, albeit socially awkward Nicky Russo? Yeah, they both trained at Denver Elite, but…no. What? That one has to be the lie. Kaylie's certain. Or, at least, that's what she wants to think. Letting her mind consider the thought of Nicky and Kelly…no. Red light. Stop. It can't be.

"So…" Kaylie clears her throat when her voice comes out all high-pitched and squeaky. "You went to the Quidditch World Cup? I never knew that. That's super cool, Nicky." He groans and hides his face in shame. It makes Kaylie smile gently and dare to touch his shoulder. "Well, at least you got a kiss out of it this time." If anything, saying that makes him burrow even deeper into hiding and Kaylie rubs her fingers up and down his firm bicep. "Can I ask how it happened?"

"As if this isn't humiliating enough." Nicky sighs and finally emerges, leaning his head back and staring straight up, avoiding Kaylie's gaze. "That's the weird thing. I don't really know. She's a bully and not very good at hiding how she's really just an insecure girl and I was the only one who wasn't afraid to call her out on it. We'd get into it from time to time, kind of like how you and me use to, but then one second she's telling me how I'm never going to measure up to Austin Tucker and I'm calling her a has-been who elected herself DE dictator and the next…"

Kaylie can figure out the rest. It's her turn to squirm in her seat, pleading with her imagination not to go there, not to try and picture it. She doesn't know why she feels so uncomfortable. She has no claim on him. She has a boyfriend. Nicky isn't him. But Nicky Russo and Kelly Parker? Even if Kaylie's slowly coming around to the idea of being actual friends with Kelly Parker after everything that's happened these last few days leading up to Worlds, Kelly and Nicky? It's bizarre.

"Did you guys ever talk about it?"

"No."

"Well," Kaylie says slowly. She knows not to ask questions she doesn't want answered, but it's a runaway train at this point. There's no other option than to let it take its course until the tracks run out. "Do you…like her?"

She crosses her fingers, holds her breath, desperately prays for a _hell no._

Instead, Nicky over exaggerates a shrug. "I kinda suck at that stuff, remember?"

Kaylie slides forward a bit, feet firmly planted on the ground, literally sitting on the edge of her seat. "Does she…does she give you butterflies?"

Hearing the question, yet another hint dropped. She needs to know. There's no question what she has to do. Regardless of if Nicky Russo still has some shred of feelings for her, the fact that she's officially dating Austin means she shouldn't encourage him or give him hope. She should pretend she's blind to his feelings and push him towards someone else, someone like Kelly, even though every ounce of her is screaming not to, reminding her of her own butterflies, the ones she feels right now, fluttering, buzzing, from the tips of her toes to the tips of her fingers.

After some time of just staring at her, as if searching for the answer she wants to hear, but coming up empty, Nicky answers with honesty. "Something like that, but different from how it was with you."

Good different or bad different? That's Kaylie's next question, but it's then that she's made aware that they're touching. Her hand that had been resting on his shoulder somehow slid down, cupping his arm, right above his elbow. Kaylie pulls away. Quick enough to change the friendly, easy atmosphere and replace it with this thick, heavy tension that can't be easily explained or chased away.

"It's half past five," Nicky says, staring down at his watch.

"Seriously?"

"We should head back to the hotel."

Nicky stands first and she follows a few steps behind. Once Kaylie realizes how ridiculous she's being, she forces herself to ignore the invisible elephant trailing behind them and catches up to Nicky so they can walk side by side. They walk out and pass a security guard who looks confused by their presence, but doesn't question it as Kaylie and Nicky break out in a run, laughing as they find the nearest exit.

The sunrise is so gorgeous they have to stop for a moment to enjoy the sight. The sun rises over the water, drawing different shades of orange and splashes of pink along the horizon. The clouds that hang overhead are purple and gray and blue and this is what it must have looked like when the universe first came into existence. It only seems fitting; the start of another morning, another day and another opportunity to get it right, to chase it, to figure out what _it_ is.

Currently, Kaylie doesn't know what it is, but she feels it. It intensifies every time she realizes how close they are right now, closer than they have been in months, how she likes it and what that means. She loses herself in her thoughts, trying to sort through what she feels about Nicky and how it measures up to the way she feels about Austin and even Damon. She cares about all three of them, but in different ways, but she can only have one boyfriend. Right now, it's Austin. She wants it to be Austin, right?

Nicky nudges her and tells her they have to go. When they reach the hotel, Nicky insists he walk her to her door. Kaylie says it isn't necessary, but he assures her he won't get any sleep at all if he doesn't see she makes it back safely. As they're walking down the line of rooms, Kaylie lets her fingers trail along the hallway wallpaper and laughs to herself. "…I went to get ice from the ice machine, in a robe and face mask and then I ran into Austin with his supermodel arm candy. It was beyond embarrassing."

"I think I've had my fair share of embarrassing moments," he says lightly. "So does he treat you good? When you were going through recovery and everything, he was there for you?"

Kaylie's lips pull to the side for a moment as she recalls her recovery process. No one's ever asked her. She's never really had to think about it before now. "Not exactly. He wanted me to do it on my own." Nicky stops walking and just looks at her as if to say _I would have been there. _She freezes mid-step and begs him not to. "Nicky, it's complicated."

"No offense, but _complicated_ sounds like the last thing you need right now, but whatever. You do what's right for you, like I did what's right for me," he says, giving up easier than she would have expected or wanted. "Just know that if he ever hurts you I'm just a call away. I'll fly back to Boulder and key his car for you."

Kaylie laughs and they start to walk again. "Trashing his motorcycle would probably hurt more. You have to promise to do that."

"Oh. Austin Tucker with his leather jacket and his motorcycle, gymnastics' token bad boy. I'm so afraid," Nicky says with an acute, bitter sarcasm. He stares at the ugly carpet and rests his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.

"You should be," Kaylie teases. "He'd beat the crap out of you."

"Probably," Nicky relents with a little smile. "Damon Young tested that theory."

"I don't know why I even bother telling you anything," Kaylie says. She swats at his shoulder, but those athlete reflexes have him anticipating and dodging. "And just so you know, if you don't talk to Kelly, I will."

Nicky's playfulness fades along with the color from his face. "Kaylie. No."

"Why not?"

"I think letting it quietly die is best here," Nicky says. She bounces on the balls of her feet and curls her lips inward, like she can barely contain herself and Nicky shakes his head. "I don't know why I tell you anything either."

Once they reach her room at the end of the hall, Kaylie finds her plastic keycard, inserts it, waits for the light to turn green and twists the handle, opening it just a little. She then turns to Nicky, who's smiling softly, tiredly. He's obviously cataloging this moment in his memory because in the morning, she's going to be with her friends and he'll be with his teammates and they'll have to settle for momentary glances in crowded rooms.

"Well, we both have to be up in couple hours, but this was fun," Kaylie says.

"Yeah, I had fun too."

That annoying elephant makes itself known and the tension rises around them at an alarming rate. The silence becomes too much, a buzzing starts in her ears. They're obviously sharing a similar thought—the last time they tried to hug in from of the Rock on Valentine's Day—and the feelings attached to that particular memory.

Screw it, Kaylie decides. This might be the last time they see each other for a while.

"Do I get a hug?" she asks quietly.

Nicky nods and steps forward and Kaylie holds her arms out. His hugs are different from Austin's, from anyone else's. He's a tentative hugger, arms gently wrapped around her, almost as if he's afraid he'd break her. However, once he gets used to it, defenses drop and ice thaws, suddenly it's like his life depends on this, on her. Kaylie keeps her arms around his neck and her face pressed into his shoulder. It lasts longer than it should. They both know this. Neither cares.

As they start to let go and back away, Kaylie surprises him, takes his chin in her hand and kisses his cheek like she did before, except this time there's no flashing cameras or questioning stares or ulterior motives. It's just the two of them in an empty hallway with an elephant that they're ignoring, an elephant that's sure to remind them that the butterflies aren't dead. Far from it.

"On the cheek, really?" Nicky says jokingly. "Even Damon Young got a real kiss."

"Nicky, I don't tell you things so you can use them against me," Kaylie whispers back. "You big baby."

It might be the sleep deprivation because after she rolls her eyes, Kaylie pulls him close and kisses him. He must not have expected it because he inhales sharply when her lips press into his. Realizing how idiotic she can be when she isn't thinking, Kaylie starts to back away just as Nicky kisses her back. As she braces his shoulders with her hands, his arms curl around her. It's for the first and last time, Kaylie reasons with herself. This isn't cheating. This is goodbye.

There's no groping or tongues searching places they shouldn't. It doesn't last long enough for any of that. Once they pull away, Nicky tells her goodnight and goodbye, a special emphasis on that latter. After watching him walk away, Kaylie disappears into her hotel room and closes the door as quietly as possible as to not disturb Lauren, asleep across the room. Kaylie presses her back to the door for a moment and closes her eyes, waiting for her heart to slow down and her brain to catch up.

Damn it! What did she just do? She did not just… God. She did. _She_ kissed Nicky Russo. There's no Damon to blame this time.

As badly as she wants to pace back and forth or bang the back of her head against the door, Kaylie doesn't do either. She just stands there, leaning back, letting the door support her as she runs over the last few hours in her head. The lip contact isn't what makes her feel the overbearing guilt. It's the fact that she enjoyed the kiss that's the problem. Those butterflies, the ones she thought were long gone, have returns and Kaylie doesn't know what to do with them.

She can't be considering what she's considering. That maybe she could possibly have a future with Nicky Russo. No. Absolutely not. He lives and trains in Texas now. He has some strange _thing_ with Kelly Parker. Kaylie lives and trains in Boulder. Always has, always will. She has Austin. Her boyfriend.

Kaylie knows she'll end up tossing and turning and overthinking until Summer comes to wake them for breakfast, but figures she might as well try to get a little sleep. As she tiptoes to her bed and slides beneath the sheets, Kaylie swears, along with the sound of ruffling sheets, she hears Lauren murmur something that sounds a lot like, "You can't have them both."

…

When the knock comes, along with Summer's singsong voice, urging them to wake up, Kaylie feels exhausted and tense and overall terrible.

Lauren gets out of bed so she can be first in the bathroom, humming to herself as she goes. She doesn't play that game where she already knows something, but wants to trick you into confiding in her and confessing aloud and that means Lauren must have been in a deep sleep last night, oblivious to what happened on the other side of their front door. It had to have been Kaylie's imagination, hearing what she thought she heard. It was five in the morning. She was sleep deprived as is. Though she's grouchy and tired, the thought that she mistook Lauren for her conscience is a funny one.

After getting dressed, Kaylie goes downstairs to meet up with the others. When she sees Nicky in the lobby, Kaylie is ready to turn right around and walk in the opposite direction, but then she notices that he's standing with Kelly. He's smiling at her and Kelly is guarded like always, suspicious of his intentions, but body language hints at a whole different story. The way she's angled towards him, eyes on him, fighting a smile, he has her undivided attention. Whatever they're talking about can't be as awkward as Kaylie would expect.

Her feet must be disconnected from her brain because without even realizing, Kaylie makes her way towards them. She's a mere few feet away and it's too late to turn and run.

"Hey guys," Kaylie says as cheerily as she can, running on barely an hour of sleep. Nicky doesn't look as tired as she feels and Kaylie doesn't find that fair at all. "What's going on?"

"He's trying to get my digits," Kelly explains bluntly. Kaylie feels her eye twitch. It has to be the lack of sleep or maybe she needs more potassium in her diet. Little logical explanations like that.

"No," Nicky denies. "I'm trying to get her to change my name in her phonebook from Weirdo Who Stalks Me While I Train to Future Olympic Gold Medalist. I think that's a little more accurate." He reaches for her phone and Kelly pull away and holds it out of his reach.

"More like arrogant," Kelly shoots back. She looks to Kaylie and explains, "I know his game. If I agree to let him change it, he's just going to take my cell and call his so he'll have my new number. God, Nick, why can't you just ask for it like a normal person? Weirdo."

"And that'd work with you?" he asks.

Kelly smiles. "No."

_Are they flirting? _Kaylie's mind practically screams. Luckily, her lips are just as disconnected from her brain as her feet. "Sorry. Did you just call him _Nick_?"

Kelly shrugs. "What of it?"

Nicky shakes his head. "Kelly Parker just has a thing for being difficult."

Before the conversation can carry on, Kelly's phone starts buzzing in her palm. It's her mom. Kelly quickly answers it and excuses herself to hall near the restrooms, where it's quieter and more private. Kaylie tells her they'll save her seat in the dining hall. They stand in silence until Kelly is completely out of sight.

"So," Kaylie starts. "You two seem _friendly_."

"We ran into each other in the elevator earlier and we had a good talk," Nicky explains. He's vague about it and Kaylie assumes he's doing it on purpose.

Not only is she a little hurt by how casual he's being, Kaylie's angry too. "So, do you want Lauren's number too?"

Nicky furrows his brows. "And why would I ever want that?"

"Hmm. First it was Payson and then when you got that kiss, it was me and now Kelly? I'm starting to sense a pattern here, which means it's only a matter of time till you're onto the next one and that's Lauren," Kaylie says spitefully.

Nicky laughs, thinking she's being downright ridiculous. "Okay, what's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" Kaylie says, trying hard to control the volume of her voice and the way it's threatening to raise deep in her throat. "I cannot believe, after what happened last night, this morning, whatever, I come down here and you're flirting with Kelly. Right in front of me!"

There's a shift in his expression and Kaylie is sure she didn't dream the part where she kissed him and instead of letting her awkwardly apologize for it and blame the fact that it was almost six in the morning, Nicky kissed her back.

"Closure," he answers. "That's all it was."

"It sure didn't feel like closure," she says. In truth, it was more like opening Pandora's box.

"What do you expect from me, Kaylie?" he asks.

"I don't expect anything…"

"Then what do you want from me? I'm going back to Texas and you'll be at the Rock with _him_. It's not like you'd dump Austin for me, especially now that the press and the public are in on it? You're like the Prince William and Kate of gymnastics. You don't have a choice. You can't just leave all that for me, can you?" Nicky says. Kaylie frowns. No. She knows that isn't an option. She can't hurt Austin like that and her career can't take any more scandals. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Nicky…"

"You can't expect me to just accept that and be some sad, pathetic puppy about it, still pining after you when we both know it isn't ever going to happen," he says. "So we figured out that we can be friends and stay friends. Look, last night I said complicated is the last thing you need right now and I meant it so I'm saving you the trouble and taking myself out of the equation. That kiss…all it meant was goodbye. To any and all possibility. That's it. The end."

She doesn't know what to say or to do. She doesn't know how to salvage this situation. Kaylie does wonder how Nicky Russo can be breaking her heart right now when it supposedly belongs to Austin Tucker.

Speaking of Austin, when an arm wraps around her hips and a set of lips press to her cheek, she knows it's him. Austin whispers good morning and she knows he's smiling without even needing to glance in his direction. Kaylie's eyes never leave Nicky and the way he looks as if his own heart is breaking just a little bit. The android boy does have a heart after all.

"Russo." Austin gives him a nod.

"Hey," Nicky says tentatively. "Anyways, it was nice talking, Kaylie. I'll see you two around."

Nicky quickly walks off into the dining hall as Austin animatedly tells her about what him and Max did last night, sneaking out for their own adventures. Kaylie tries to nod along and listen and laugh at the parts she's meant to. She really makes an effort because Austin is amazing and deserves that effort, but her heart isn't in it. How could it be? It's shattered.

As they sit down for breakfast with the other girls and Max, Austin with his arm around her as he jokes with his best friend on his other side, Kaylie's attention is elsewhere. Lauren and Kelly Parker are across their circular table, having an oddly civil conversation about a common enemy—Ivanka Kirilenko. That's when Nicky leaves his table of his teammates and walks over to them with this newfound gold medalist swagger, but still that same nervous, boyish smile. He starts chatting up Kelly in a way that makes the Denver gymnast act as if she's annoyed by his persistence, but everyone can tell that she's charmed.

When Kelly finally gives in and gives Nicky her new cell number, Lauren is gaping, ready to feed the rumor mill and Payson wears this little amused smile, clearly over whatever it is she and Nicky had all that time ago. Even Austin chuckles, calling out to Nicky, giving him a little friendly heads-up about Kelly's Momager. The whole time, Kaylie feels ill about the entire thing. She shouldn't be affect by all this. Over and over, she has to remind herself that he was never hers. Not even a little. It shouldn't hurt to watch him move on because she already did the same and much quicker.

Austin frowns when he looks Kaylie's way and asks her what's wrong, but Kaylie doesn't know how she's supposed to explain how she's feeling to him. She can barely understand it herself. Kaylie swallows the disappointment and the pain and tries to put up the best front she can. Blame it on the lack of a good night's rest. That one sounds the least like a lie.

Later, when Kaylie's back in her hotel room with Lauren, packing their things and preparing for the redeye back to Colorado, her phone buzzes with a text from Nicky. It reads, "_I hate the way things ended. I still want to be friends. We can do that, right?"_

Kaylie taps her fingers against the keys. What is she supposed to say? No? Part of her wants to. Part of her wants to be angry because anger is often easier to deal with than pain, but that isn't fair to either of them. She texts, "_Of course. Next time we cross paths, we should do that again." _Kaylie hits send, but after she re-reads it, she quickly types out a second text. "_I mean the catching up…not the kissing part." _

Kaylie groans and flops back onto the hotel bed, exhausted, but with a million things to do before their flight tonight. She closes her eyes for a moment, waiting for her phone to buzz with a reply. When it does, Kaylie reads, "_Sure thing, Princess."_

Instead of getting back up and getting back to folding her clothes and neatly placing them back into her suitcase, Kaylie lies there for a bit longer. She opens her list of contacts in her phone and stops over Nicky's name. She edits it and changes it from "Nicky" to "Quidditch World Cup Champion."

Of all the lies they both told, that one is her favorite.

_Fini_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note<strong>: Trying to keep it as canon as I possibly could, that's the only way I saw it playing out. Beauty and tragedy. My specialties, right? Anyone still reading my writing? If so, tell me what you thought of this.

New rules for the Alphabet Challenge 2.0 TBA…


End file.
